“Abandon Me Not” (Exegesis of Matt. 27:46) by Adam T. Boguski II – Part #1

In the midst of my struggles I find myself closely clinging to the incarnation. This idea that God took on humanity, somehow links me closer to Him in a deep connection. He experienced what I experience, and He was tempted in all ways as I am Heb. 4:15, “For we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He embraced humanity and at the same time died to redeem it. Through this He promises to, “never leave us nor forsake us.” Heb. 13:5. Yet I find it a struggle to believe this for so many times I constantly feel this distance and disconnection resonating with a painful ring in my soul. It is as if I feel this more times than not, this hunch that God is not keeping His promise. After all, how much can He understand me and my sinful humanity when He lived the perfect, non-sinful life?

It is common to approach the prayer of Jesus in Matthew 26:46 as He quotes Psalm 22:2, with an understanding of Christ’s abandonment as He dies and cries, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Most see this phrase as a theological treatise on the dynamic of what God’s wrath was doing to the Trinitarian union which I will show does not have to be the case. This idea of God abandoning Christ so that He does not have to abandon us due to our sin is not only developed as a crucial doctrine to the faith from insufficient Biblical support, but is also I think a misrepresentation of the account. The text along with other supporting texts I think lend themselves to both an easier understanding of this as well as a more spiritually and emotionally meaningful one.

Matt. 27:26 says, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ That is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  When we look across the horizontal line of how each gospel writer records this passage we find some interesting facts. Mark and Matthew are the only two that record this quote among the synoptics, while Luke all together omits it. With the view of Markan priority and Matthew being written next, there has been some speculation as to why Luke would directly omit this seemingly important quote. Bultmann was first to make the argument that, “this embarrassing phrase lacked authenticity due to the omission from Luke.” However, this view was unlikely, seeing that it is recorded in both Matthew and Mark. John does not record it but he is doing something entirely different with his narrative gospel account so it would not be fair to rule his in. Also the fact that, “these are the only words Matthew and Mark record Jesus saying from the cross, must be taken as very significant for these Evangelists,” (there are six other sayings but they are all in Luke and John). The fact that Matthew only mentions this one saying on the cross with a direct quotation begs the question of what was so important from his gospel perspective that this phrase was to be all we get from Jesus on the cross? I think it is easily sufficient to say that both Mark and Matthew’s narration focus on this saying in a theological way that Luke simply does not.

Matthew makes a few slight alterations though to the text as he veers from Mark’s account. Mark sticks closely to his Aramaic translation with (eloi, eloi) while Matthew translates this section as (ali, ali) a transliteration of the actual Hebrew represented by the quotation in Psalm 22:2 and leaving the rest in Aramaic. Luz notes that the Matthean text is most likely a, “change to the Markan text in order to make more obvious how one could misunderstand it as a call to Elijah,” as seen in v.47. From the Matthean transliteration of the Hebrew to Aramaic “ali” it is simple to see how one could mistakenly hear “eli” an abbreviation for “eliyahu” or Elijah.

It is also extremely important to note that within Matthew’s gospel account this is the only time that he translates a quotation of Jesus in the Galilean Aramaic dialect. This alone helps this to stand out, as if to say to the reader, “This is so important that I actually want you to hear His exact words, as the sounds and syllables rolled off His lips, crying out to God in despair.” We find the same kind of attention drawn in Mark’s account on top of the fact that as we already noted, Matthew seems to place importance on this fact as he only records this saying and none of the other six found in Luke or John. So, already within the text there are many indicators going off that this utterance is of extreme importance.

(Adam writes) I remember having a conversation with a good friend who was going through a difficult time in their life. He was trying so hard to deepen his relationship with God and to overcome some weighty matters of sin that were crushing him. During this time as he sought and sought after God with what he perceived to be “all his heart” (Jer. 29:13) he felt only more distance and more guilt. Then a tragedy happened in his life that left him void of any answers at all. He looked me in the eyes, with tears streaming down his face and said, “I don’t understand, I feel as though God doesn’t care. I feel as though He has left me. After all, how can I believe that He would never leave me when He forsook His own Son. It is as if He doesn’t care, and if He does care, then there is no way He can really understand.”

We need to stop there, to move ant further would prove fruitless, as he goes into Psalm 22. You need to meditate on Psalm 22 until next time, “My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me? Why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring?” Did you ever feel like Adam’s friend? Destitute, desperate, dejected, alone? After you have feasted on Psalm 22, spend some time on Psalm 42 and until next time, we’ll see you, “…Between The Lines…”

“Abandon Me Not” (Exegesis of Matt. 27:46) by Adaam T. Boguski II 1/12/13

“Is The Church Spiritual Israel’ – ‘Part #5’

“Replacement Theology” is a heresy, which says, “That since Israel rejected their Messiah they have forfeited all their God-given promises to the Church.” (Show me just one verse please!) This would also include the transfer of the land of Israel and the transfer of the coming judgement upon the people of the earth known as the ‘Time of Jacob’s Trouble.” oi vey!  Then they would need a good pair of running shoes and a map to Petra! A ‘Heresy’ is an opinion or doctrine contrary to a Biblical church dogma or denial of a revealed truth; or deviation from a dominant Biblical theory or doctrine. This is just the kind of doctrine which caused the Holocaust and promotes antisemitism or better yet anti-Judaism. There is a big difference between the two because the Arabs are Semites also, and we don’t see an anti-Arab movement today! It also teaches that the Church will experience the ‘Great Tribulation’ or the ‘Time of Jacob’s Trouble’ because they are now Jacob or Israel. So, as you can see, all kinds of problems begin to crop up with this new doctrine. To say that God made unconditional promises to Israel and then broke them, is to call God a liar which is blasphemy and you need to be careful there Doctor, Rom. 3:4. In Ezek. 36 God made it very clear that He will never abandon Israel, because His name and reputation are on the line. In fact Ezekiel chapter 36 is the acid text for anyone who would explain the Bible or prophecy any way other than literally. Because you have a literal Israel, in a literal land, with a literal regeneration. Then in v.22 the Lord GOD says, “I do not do this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy name’s sake;” Then in chapter 37 you have the vision of the, “Valley of Dry Bones” and the ‘Two Sticks’ becoming one which has already happened and then in chapters 38 and 39 you have the invasion of Gog which is yet future. I have but one question for the, ‘Supersessionists and Replacement Theologians,’ “Where were you during the Holocaust, the Pogroms, the Inquisition and the Crusades?” And why are you ashamed to proudly display that yellow star of David, your badge of honor?

I guess it brings us right back to where we started, “Is the Church Spiritual Israel?” Has YeHoVaH broken His covenant promise with the ‘Apple of His eye?’ Has the Almighty finally given Israel, His lawfully wedded wife a bill of divorcement? Has the LORD of Hosts nullified His Word which He holds higher than His name, Ps. 138:2? Has the King of kings broken His pledge to King David to establish his throne forever, II Sam. 7:16? Has the LORD of lords forgotten what He wrote concerning making a vow in Ecc. 5:5? Shall the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Who swore by His own name, because there was none higher, recant and not multiply their seed as the stars of heaven and not give them all the land from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates as an inheritance forever as he promised? God Forbid!

Mark Twain, that great evangelist (only kidding) said, “All things are mortal but the Jew!” Lord Beaconsfield said, “The world has by now discovered that it is impossible to destroy the Jew!” Frederick the Great said, “Define for me in one word God!” Then one of his counselors quickly responded with the word, “Jew!” Pharaoh, Antiochus, Caesar, Ferdinand, Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Arafat, Satan and so many others have tried to eliminate the Jewish people from the face of the earth since the Garden of Eden but to no avail. So, ‘Replacement Theologians’ have come up with a plan of their own and it is very simple, “The Church Is Israel!” So, there you have it! Oh no you don’t! You can’t replace, displace, destroy, eradicate or eliminate Israel from God’s plan and purpose! Why? Because He said so and He wrote the Book! Israel is mentioned over 2,300 times in the Bible from Gen. 32:28 on the River of Peniel, “The Face of God” to Rev. 21:12, “The New Jerusalem” where you will have 12 gates with the 12 names of the 12 tribes of Israel written on each of them as you enter for 1,000 years. The Church is only mentioned 80 times in the New Testament from Matt. 16:18 where Yeshua/Jesus says, “I will build My Church,” (future) to Rev. 3:14, and then it is not mentioned for the next 16 chapters. Why? Because it is the, “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” for seven years, or the ‘Tribulation’ and the Church is not Jacob or Israel.

I love that old Jewish poem, I don’t know who wrote it, some say it was Ogden Nash, but I don’t think so: “How odd of God to choose the Jews; But odder still, To choose the Jewish God; And hate the Jews.” Israel is a nation of people inscribed in the very heart of God. Listen to Isa. 54:7-8, “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD, thy Redeemer.” Paul wrote in Rom. 9:4-5, “Who are the Israelites; to whom pertains the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ (Messiah) came, Who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”

Who are these Israelites inscribed in the heart of God and engraved in the palms of His hands? Isa. 49:16 says, “Behold, I have engraved thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.” They are a, ‘Promised People’ Gen. 22:15-18, “In that day the LORD (YeHoVaH) made a covenant with Abram…” They are an, ‘Indestructible People’ Jer. 31:35-37, “Thus says the LORD, if the (sun, moon, stars, sea) depart from before Me, then the seed of Israel shall cease from being a nation before Me…” They are a, “Cherished People” Gen. 12:3, “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” They are a, “Chosen People” Deut. 7:6, “The LORD thy God has chosen thee…” They are a, “Special People” Deut. 7:6, “To be a special people unto Himself;” They are a, ” Favored People” Deut. 7:6, “Above all the people who are on the face of the earth.” They are a, “Beloved People” Rom. 11:28-29, “As touching the election, they are beloved for the Father’s sake.” They are a, “Precious People” Isa. 43:4, “Since thou was precious in My sight, thou has been honorable and I have loved thee;” They are a, “Redeemed People” Isa. 63:9, “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.” They are a, “Preserved People” Ps. 121:4, “Behold, He who keeps Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep.” They are a, “People With A Future” Isa. 43:21, “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise.” (Rom. 9-11) They are an, “Elect People” Rom. 11:28, “But as touching election, they are beloved for the Father’s sake.” They are a, “Blessed People” Gen. 12:2-3, “I will bless thee…and thou shalt be a blessing…and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Most of all, they are ‘NOT’ a, “Replaced People” I Sam. 12:22, “For the LORD will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people. Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you;” Isa. 43:21, “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise.”

Paul wrote in Romans, “Brethren, my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.” Not the Church, ISRAEL! He also wrote, For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen (Israel) according to the flesh.” Not the Spirit, the Flesh! He said he wished he could go to HELL if Israel could be saved. What is your heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel? God commands us in Psalm 122:6 to pray for the peace of Jerusalem; He commands us in Psalm 51:18 to build the walls of Jerusalem; And He commands us in Isaiah 40:1-2 to speak tenderly to the inhabitants of Jerusalem or all Israel, He commands us to speak to their hearts. Rom. 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greeks/Gentiles.” Webster says, “First means, preceding all others in time, order or importance.” That’s pretty simple, you don’t need a doctorate for that. The subject is the Gospel, the main verb is the word ‘is’ in the present tense (estin) and there are three predicate clauses hanging on it. First, the gospel ‘is’ the power of God unto salvation, we all agree! Second, the gospel ‘is’ to everyone and anyone who believes it, we all agree! Third, the gospel ‘is’ to the Jew first, oops! Why is it, that by faith or by practice most evangelicals have abandoned Paul’s burden, prayer, goal, calling and vision? The word first (protos) is the same word we have in Matt. 6:33, “But seek ye first (protos) the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” I don’t know, third base! We hope to see you next time at, diggingintoprophecy.com, till then we will see you, “…Between The Lines…”

“Is The Church Spiritual Israel” – ‘Part #5’  12/22/12

“Is The Church Spiritual Israel’ – ‘Part #4’

Acts 1:6-7 says, “When they (the disciples) therefore, were come together they asked of Him (Jesus) saying, “Lord, will Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” And He said unto them, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own power.” We left off last time with the question, “Is the Church replacing Israel today in God’s economy of things?” Well something has crept into our colleges and seminaries and taken over many of our churches today, saying that, ‘God is done with Israel!’ It comes in many forms, sizes and colors and it has many names and fancy titles like, Replacement Theology, Covenant Theology, Dual Covenant Theology, Reformed Theology, Progressive Dispensationalism, Covenant Dispensationalism, Transcendental Dispensationalism and a host of other ‘ologies, ism’s and shism’s.’ (Did I miss any?) They have put God in a box, buried Israel in the sand, and pushed the Jewish people out of God’s plan and purpose for the ages! Antisemitism didn’t work, so they just replaced them with the Church! They couldn’t burn them out, so we will bloted them out! Our seminaries and colleges are now telling God what to believe. The missing ‘ology’ in our colleges and seminaries today is, “Israelology!” In fact the missing ingredient in missions today and in our churches is Israel. What is happening? “The church has replaced Israel in God’s economy of things and in His plan and purpose for the ages.”

A recent Christian publication stated, “Just as the Jews had to make bricks and hide in caves, (Heb. 11:36-38) so does redeemed “Israel” – Christians, the Church today.” For one thing this passage has nothing to do with Egypt, if anything it is referring to the Maccabees in 163 BCE, the first martyrs for freedom of conscience sake. However, to refer to the Church as redeemed Israel, and Old Testament saints as Christians is heretical. The Church was born at Pentecost and ends at the Rapture, Christ said in Matt. 16:18, “I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (future tense). God has a plan for the Church, the Gentiles and for Israel, I Cor. 10:32, “Give no offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.” You need to study Rom. 9-11, in fact the ‘Replacement Theologians’ have an emergency number, “Rom. 911.” God isn’t done with Israel yet, and He never will be! He told Abraham His covenant with Israel was an ‘Everlasting Covenant’ (olam berit) Gen. 17:7-8. The land was an ‘Everlasting Possession’ and He confirmed that covenant with King David in I Chron. 16:17.

Deut. 7:9 says, God swore an oath unto Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, ‘He swore an oath!’ (Shabuah) Ecc. 5:5 says, “It is better never to vow a vow, than to vow a vow and break it.” In fact even Yeshua/Jesus said, “Let your yea be yea, and your nay be nay.” If God could break a ‘Covenant,’ if He could, He is not the kind of God you and I want to love, serve and obey. Amen? That was weak, are you paying attention? It is like that age old question, “Can God make a rock so big He can’t pick it up?” Better yet, “Can god make a covenant, so big He can’t keep it?” Not Abraham, God! It was God in Gen. 15, Who cut the covenant and passed between the animal parts not Abraham, he was asleep, check it out. Nothing, has nor ever will replace the, ‘Apple of His eye’ not the Church, not the Gentiles, not the Muslims, not anything! Three times in Hos. 2:19-20, three times, God said, “He has betrothed (aras) espoused Israel to Himself.” Try to replace the pupils in your eyes sometime, then call me in the morning if you can see the numbers on your phone. This word (aras) in Hebrew means, to woo a virgin, to engage for matrimony, to pay the bride price and thereby gain the right of possession.

The Church is never spoken of in any form until the New Covenant and then it is defined by the following characteristics. First – It is the, “Body of Christ” of which our Lord is the Head. How could it have existed before the coming of Christ without a head? Col. 1:18 says, “And He is the head of the body the Church; who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the pre-eminence.” Second – It is the, “Temple of God” believers being the stones and Christ being the chief cornerstone. No such concept is ever alluded to in the TaNaK. I Pet. 2:5 says, “Ye also, as living stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” Third – It is the, “Bride of Christ” which is espoused to Him, will marry Him, and reign with Him one day. Right now we are in the separation period of purity. Titus 2:14 says, “Who gave Himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people of His own, zealous of good works.” I John 3:3 says, “And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself even as He is pure.”

It does not take a ‘Rocket Scientist’ or a ‘Theoretical Physicist’ to see that God has a plan and a purpose and gave specific promises to Israel, the Church and to the Gentile nations, I Cor. 10:32. Israel was a nation revealed from the beginning, Gen. 12:1-3, and the Church was a mystery hidden from the ages, Col. 1:26. (Let that sink in for a minute and you might want to re-read it) Israel had it’s origin in the blood of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Gen. 12ff; The Church had it’s origin in the blood of Christ at Calvary and began on Pentecost, Acts 1 & 2. Israel is a national state, with a national government and an earthly capitol. The Church is not a national state, does not have a national government, or a capitol. Israel has a a national military to defend its property and their people, the ‘I.D.F.’ (Israeli Defense Forces) The Church does not have a national military to defend its people or land. It is clear that the dispensation that includes the Church and the dispensation that includes Israel are two very distinct and separate dispensations dealing with God’s purpose and plan with two very different and distinct people and destinies. So, join us next time as we wrap this study up and move onto a new prophetic study and until then we hope to see you all, “…Between The Lines…”

“Is The Church Spiritual Israel” – ‘Part #4’ – 12/20/12

“Is The Church Spiritual Israel’ – ‘Part #3’

Fourth – There is a unique relationship between Jewish and Gentile believers in the Church as seen in Eph. 2:15-16, “Having abolished in His flesh the enmity (hatred, animosity, hostility, bad-blood), even the law of commandments contained in ordinances to make in Himself of two one new man, so making peace; And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby;” Here the Church is referred to as, “One New Man.” The word new (kainos) means a new kind, unprecedented, unheard of before, something brand new. (Read, Eph. 2:11-18) During this age God is saving a remnant from two entities, Jewish and Gentile and He places them into a third entity, ‘The Church’ a gift to His Son. This new entity covers only the ‘Church Age’ from Pentecost to the ‘Rapture’ that’s it! After that, God will restore Israel and complete her destiny, (Read) Acts 15:14-18; Then read, Amos 9:11-12 and if you have access to a Scofield Bible read the footnote in the book of Amos regarding the LXX, the Septuagint translation. In fact let me add that note for you, “The ancient Greek translation rendered this verse as follows: “That the rest of mankind may seek (the LORD) and all the nations upon whom My name is called, saith the LORD, who does all these things.” Strange as it may seem to those unfamiliar with the Hebrew language, the Hebrew text may be rendered this way, with little more than the change of one letter. The corruption of this letter may have occurred after the time of the apostles, for James thus quoted the verse at the Jerusalem Council, and based his decision upon it (Acts 15:14-17). There were learned men present, some of them hostile to his view, who would certainly have shouted him down if he had based his decision upon a reading different from that which existed int the then current Hebrew manuscripts.” I Cor. 10:32, also reflects this division of three distinct, separate entities in God’s economy of things, “Give no offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.” In other words, ‘Don’t become (ginomai) an offense, a stumbling stone, an obstacle, a pebble in someone’s shoe, causing them to sin, to the Jew, to the Gentile or to the Church of God.’

Fifth – We see a distinction between Israel and the Church in Gal. 6:16, where “The Israel of God” is referring to ‘Ethnic’ Israel, not the Church. “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy and (especially) upon the Israel of God.” These are believing Jews in contrast to “Israel after the flesh” or unbelieving Jews in I Cor. 10:18, “Behold Israel after the flesh. Are not they who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?” This passage teaches that a remnant, a tithe, a holy seed, a stump (mat-se-veth) Isa. 6:13, will be combined with Gentiles to form a whole new entity, “The Church.” This passage does not support, ‘Supersessionism or Replacement Theology’ which teaches that Israel has been supplanted or replaced by the Church, just the opposite! You need to read the whole context which goes from v.11-16 and maybe you might need to read the whole chapter, but Paul is fighting Legalizers in Galatians, Judaizers, those who wish to mix law and grace. The ‘Israel of God’ refers to Jewish believers in Jesus Christ, to the spiritual as well as the physical descendants of Abraham, Gal. 3:7, and heirs of the promise rather than of the law, Gal. 3:18. They are the real Jews, the true Israel of faith, like those referred to in Rom. 2:28-29; 9:6-7. The, “Israel of God” compares Israel after the Spirit with Israel after the flesh. As Lightfoot said, “Israel is the sacred name for the Jews as the nation of the Theocracy, the people under God’s covenant.”

Sixth – In the book of Acts we see the Church and Israel existing, side by side, simultaneously, at the same time. In fact you find Israel mentioned 21 times and the Church mentioned 19 times and yet they are always kept distinct and separate. Therefore, the Replacement Theologian has no Biblical basis to stake his claim to fame that Israel and the Church are one. They try to teach that Gentile believers in Gal. 3:29 are true Israelites, they try to teach it anyway! But the battle going on in Galatians is with Judaizers, Gal. 3:3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?” Paul is simply teaching that Christians participate in the spiritual blessings that came through Israel, such as: Salvation, Baptism, Communion, Sanctification, Glorification, Monotheism, Atonement, Forgiveness, The Scriptures, Love, Mercy, Grace, Acceptance by God, The Messiah, Hope, A Future, etc. For that the Church is indebted (opheilo) in arrears, delinquent in their payments to the Jewish people, Rom. 15:27, I Cor. 9:11. Those who are the ‘Spiritual Seed’ are partakers  of ‘Jewish Blessings’ but are never said to be partakers of physical, material, or national promises, NEVER! Rom. 15:27, “It has pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their (Jewish) spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them (Jews) in material things.” Partakers of Jewish blessings, not partakers of Jewish blood! Big difference! Replacement Theologians also like to use Gal. 3:7, 9, 16 and 29 where the word ‘seed’ is the Greek word (sperma) or semen for natural, biological descendants. In Rom. 2:28-29 Paul shows us that true Judaism is not merely a matter of external observances or precise keeping of ordinances but of a heart attitude towards God. As he says in v.29 it is not in the letter of the law that matters but in the spirit. The Judaism that bases everything on external observances is not true Judaism but a perversion and was condemned by Jesus Himself in Matt. 15:6, “You have made the commandments of God of no effect by your traditions.” (Traditions, Traditions, Traditions) “Like A Fiddler On The Roof.” You see this distinction again in Rom. 9:6-7, “Spiritual Israel vs Natural Israel.” Even Jesus made this distinction, but the Church was a different entity all together. Also being born physically and being born spiritually are two completely different entities entirely too. You see this in John chapter three with Nicodemus and Jesus, when Jesus tells him he must be ‘Born Again’ (ano-then) born from above. You have been born physically, now you must be born spiritually or you will never see the kingdom of heaven. Remember, Galatians was written by Paul to or about the Judaizers, Legalizers, those who were mixing law and grace, oil and water. The natural descendants of Abraham, Israel according to the flesh, and Israel according to the Spirit, but NEVER, Israel as the Church! The Judaizers were telling the Gentile believers they had to become Jews to be saved, keep kosher, keep Shabbat, get circumcised, keep Passover, keep the law, all 613 commandments, or is it 1,521 when most people can’t even name the ‘Ten Commandments.’ Just read Acts 15 and the Jerusalem Council to settle this issue. Abstain from, “Fornication, Blood, Idols, Strangulation.” James said, “If you abstain from the F.B.I.’S. you do well!”

Well I trust you are staying with us as we see why, “The Church is not Spiritual Israel.” Take your time, read over the notes, and look up the verses, and read,    “…Between The Lines…”

“Is The Church Spiritual Israel” – Part #3′  12/11/12

“Is the Church Spiritual Israel?’ – ‘Part #2’

The Church unlike Israel is not made up “IS NOT” comprised of any one specific ethnicity! The Church is made up of “EVERY” tribe, tongue, and nation in the world and that is the key! Israel was “CHOSEN” (Ba-char) appointed, elected, selected, by God after being tested (remember that), Deut. 7:6-8, “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God; the LORD thy God has chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all the people on the face of the earth. The LORD did not chose you, (Israel) because you were more in number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people. But because the LORD loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers…” Every translation has the word ‘Chosen.’ Also His gifts and calling are “irrevocable” Rom. 11:26-32, (a-meta-melatos) not to be repented of, enduring, unalterable, something one never takes back. v.29, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

The Church could not have come into existence until certain conditions were met and there are many but six seem to stand out, six distinctives, six conditions, six prerequisites or stipulations that needed to be in place before the Church could be inaugurated. These show us that the Church was in fact a distinct work or entity of God totally separate from Israel:

First – The Church was born on Pentecost or Shavuot, The Feast of Weeks, 50 days after Passover, 10 days after Christ’s Ascension, on a Sunday morning, on the same day, coincidentally, Judaism was born! (The sixth of Sivan) What a coincidence and my Rabbi says, “Coincidence is not a kosher word!” Israel had already existed for about 20 centuries when the Church was born. In Matt. 16:18 Yeshua/Jesus said, “I will build My church;” Future tense showing it did not exist yet, so it couldn’t have been in the Older Testament. It is viewed as the ‘Body of Christ’ in Col. 1:18, “And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have pre-eminence.” Entrance into that ‘Body’ is by ‘Spirit Baptism,’ I Cor. 12:13, “For (ev) with/by one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles; … and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” We are born into the Church spiritually ‘Born-Again’  (a-no-then) born from above,  not physically. You are born into the Jewish family physically, biologically, you are a member of Abraham’s race because you have Jewish blood running in your veins, because your father, grandfather, great grandfather, great great grandfather, great great great grandfather, and so on was Jewish. Acts 1:5 looks forward to Pentecost, “For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Whereas Acts 11:15 looks back to Pentecost as the starting point, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them, as on us at the beginning (ar-kay – origin, Jn. 1:1).”

Second – The Church couldn’t come into existence until certain events were met, three in particular: One – Atonement, Rom. 5:11, “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (kat-al-lag-ay – reconciliation, to exchange).” II Cor. 5:21. Propitiation, is a satisfying sacrifice, in I John 2:2 and 4:10 you have the means of propitiation (hilasmos) Jesus Christ, and in Heb. 9:5 and Rom. 3:25 you have the place of propitiation (hilasterion) the mercy seat and the cross. As the blood was sprinkled on the mercy-seat on Yom Kippur to make atonement for the nation of Israel, it was sprinkled on Christ’s body to make atonement for the nation’s on Passover, His body became our mercy seat, by specific scripture. Without the shedding of  blood, Heb. 9:22 (hima-tech-usia) the effusion of blood, and without the application of that blood, Ex. 12:22 on the lentil and door posts of your heart there is no salvation, none whatsoever. The ‘Lamb of God’ died for the sins of the world, but you must make appropriation of His blood or you will die and go to Hell! Only one thief was saved so that no one would despair that he or she is beyond hope but only one so that no one would presuppose that we will all make it, yet Christ died for the sins of the world, but personal appropriation is the key! Two – Resurrection, Rom. 4:25, “Who was delivered for our offenses, (our sins, our transgressions) and was raised again for our justification.” How do we know we are justified? The tomb is empty, His resurrection is proof our sins are gone and gone forever! I Cor. 15, is the resurrection chapter and without the resurrection we are without hope, in fact “we are of all men most miserable.” The resurrection is the ‘Bottom Line’ of Christianity, it is the ‘Sine Qua Non‘ Latin for, ‘Without Which Nothing!’ Of all the major religions in the world only four are based on a personality, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity and of those four only one of their leaders claimed to be God, ‘Jesus Christ’ and only one arose from the dead, ‘Jesus Christ!’ Three – Ascension, Acts 1:9-11, “And, when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel: Who said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?” Without His ascension we would not have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:32-36, “This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has shed forth this, which you now see and hear.” Without the atonement we are not reconciled; Without the resurrection we are not justified; and without the ascension we are not filled and baptized into the body of Christ.

Third – The Church was a ‘Mystery’ (mus-ter-ion) a hidden truth not revealed until the Newer Testament was revealed. Eph. 3:3-5; 9: Col. 1:26-27. There are four characteristics that define the church as a (mus-ter-ion) a mystery: One – Jewish and Gentile people will be united in one body, Eph. 3:1-12; v.6 says, “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel.” The fact that Gentiles would be saved was not a mystery or a new thing, read; Rom. 9:24-33; 10:19-21. The mystery, “hidden in God” was the divine purpose of making Jewish and Gentile believers a wholly new thing, ‘the Church, which would be Christ’s body’ formed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, I Cor. 12:12-13. Therefore, the earthly distinction between Jew and Gentile in the Church disappears, Eph. 2:14-15, Col. 3:10-11: Two – Christ indwells every believer, Col. 1:24-27, “Even the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest unto His saints; To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” Three – The Church is the ‘Bride of Christ,’ Eph. 5:22-32, “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” Four – The Rapture (the har-pad-zo) or the ‘Great Snatch’ of the Church, I Thess. 4:13-18;  I Cor. 15:51-58, “Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.”

All these are described as “MYSTERIES” and distinguish the Church from Israel and set it apart in time, space and history; not to mention prophecy, dispensations, ages, or epochs. God has a plan and a program and He is on schedule and He never sleeps nor slumbers and though it may be a mystery to us there are no mysteries to Him. He doesn’t wear a watch or use a calendar but He created time as well as the planets and their movements. These characteristics are unique to the Church, Israel has their own set of unique characteristics which we will look at another time. So until next time, keep looking up and I will see you, “…Between The Lines…”

“Is The Church Spiritual Israel?” – Part #2′  12/8/12